Total & Permanent Disability
The eligibility requirements for the original $25,000 homestead exemption must be met. Property to the value of $5,000 of every totally and permanently disabled person who is a bona fide resident of this state is exempt from taxation. As used in this section, the term “totally and permanently disabled person” means a person who is currently certified by a physician licensed in this state, by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its predecessor, or by the Social Security Administration to be totally and permanently disabled. To qualify for a disability exemption:
- Present proof of total and permanent disability from a licensed Florida physician, The Social Security Administration, or The Veterans Administration.
Total & Permanent Disability Physician’s Certification Form
In 2022, Florida Statute 196.202 was changed to increase the exemption amount from $500 to $5,000. This means your tax savings of $10 can go up to $100 annually. This change will be effective January, 2023.
Blind Disability Exemption ($5000)
The eligibility requirements for the original $25,000 homestead exemption must be met. Every Florida resident who is legally blind qualifies for this exemption. A certificate from the Division of Blind Services of the Department of Education or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Federal Social Security Administration certifying the applicant to be blind or a letter from a Florida physician certifying that the applicant is totally and permanently disabled due to blindness or an optometrist certification that the applicant is totally and permanently disabled due to legal blindness, is required.
"A legally blind person” is defined as an individual having central vision acuity 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses, or a disqualifying field defect in which the peripheral field has contracted to such an extent that the widest diameter or visual field subtends an angular distance no greater than twenty degrees.
Total & Permanent Disability Physician’s Certification Form
In 2022, Florida Statute 196.202 was changed to increase the exemption amount from $500 to $5,000. This means your tax savings of $10 can go up to $100 annually. This change will be effective January, 2023.
Paraplegics, Hemiplegics, Legally Blind or Totally & Permanently Disabled Wheelchair Bound
Paraplegics, Hemiplegics, legally blind persons or totally and permanently disabled persons who rely on a wheelchair for mobility, meeting certain income requirements, are eligible for total exemption.
You must present proof of total and permanent disability from (2) professionally unrelated licensed Florida physicians (One can be a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs),(For the legally blind, one can be an optometrist) along with proof of total household income. (Florida Statute 196.101)